Sargasso of Space

A new recruit to the Federation’s equivalent of the merchant marines, the Traders, gets a disappointing assignment to an independent trader ship, the Solar Queen, rather than a well-to-do corporate franchise as he’d hoped. On his first trip out, the crew decides to take a risky gamble by bidding virtually all their money on trading rights to a newly surveyed planet, and what at first appears to be a bust turns out to have surprising secrets and evil outlaws.

A good old-fashioned space opera that has aged surprisingly well. The characters are bland and entirely male; the action-adventure is clearly the draw of this type of story.

Very serviceable old-school space opera from the 1950s. Reads like a boys life adventure from an even earlier period. I breezed through it in 3 days and enjoyed it.

It has a very dated feel today in 2014. Not one female named role. The only mention of alien races have very xenophobic attitudes toward them.

If you are looking for a brief vacation from the complex sci-fi of today give Andre Norton a try.

Cheesy fun, utterly forgettable, and if it wasn't Andre Norton, I likely would have passed, based on time period and cover alone. Or mocked it. Does it make a difference? Sure--she was trying to muscle in on a market dominated by white men and the best way to do that was to do what they did better (only backwards and in heels). Did it work? Probably, because she's now known as one of the 'greats,' and I could actually find her books in the local library. Although to my twelve year-old eyes, 'Andre' was probably a man's name and I was surprised when I eventually found out the author I liked so much was a female, so there's that.

"A Survey auction—a Free Trader got a chance at one of those maybe once in a lifetime. And that was how show more fortunes were made."


Is this book one of her better ones? Not really. But it's fun, in an early Star Trek kind of way. Say, Star Trek OG mixed with some Next-Gen democracy (but still no women on the flight because, natch). Good heavens, I'm digressing. Unlike this story, which stays pretty on point. Young Wesley Dane graduates Starfleet and gets placed with the Free Traders. But this is 1960, and even back then, future big money called the shots, so their small crew rolls the dice on a contract. Adventures ensue. I wasn't sure what would happen, mostly because this wasn't a time period/subgenre I ever read (pulp 60s scifi paperbacks), only spoofs on the genre. It is mostly plot driven with enough fleshing out of main and side characters to make them interesting, if somewhat stereotypical. There's a background to her world-building that seems fascinating (her usual 'relics') but as usual, there's not much discovered/known. Entertaining enough for part of a plane ride, but not captivating enough that I didn't set it down. There are a lot of exclamation points in the writing, but Norton still sneaks in some lessons for the young protagonist. Call it 'neutral good' on the role-playing grid.

“Listen, my innocent child,” drawled Kamil, “for every law the Federation produces in their idealist vacuum there is some bright boy—or boys—working day and night to break it. I’m not telling you how they work it, but I’m willing to wager all my cut of this particular venture, that it’s being done."

Read the next? Who knows? I hear it's free on the web somewhere, so I might, if I remember to look for it and download it when I'm not on vacation.

rounding up to a three on the GR scale, because, well, neutral good deserves a little extra, right?

Two and a half, rounding up, because I actually finished it. show less

Norton, Andre (a.k.a. Andrew North). Sargasso of Space. 1955. Solar Queen No. 1. Open Road Media, 2014.
Andre Norton’s Solar Queen series is not one of the enduring science fiction monuments of the 1950s, such as Fahrenheit 451, I, Robot, or The Stars My Destination; it is not even up there with Starship Troopers. It is, nevertheless, a book I probably read and enjoyed when I was 11 or 12 in the 1950s, and I enjoy it still. Apprentice Cargo-Master Dane of the independent trade Solar Queen is a likeable young man who learns from experience negotiating with aliens on newly opened planets. The crew of the Queen are a well-individualized set of characters who have believable relationships with each other. Sadly, Norton still felt compelled show more to make space travel a boy's club, and the cool-your-rockets space opera slang is hard to take, though it is no worse than Heinlein got away with in some of his juveniles. Still 4 stars from me. show less

This one is Dane's intro to the Solar Queen. It's an interesting setup - they risk everything for a chance of real success and...then things get complicated. People who aren't what they say they are, ancient installations that still work, strange intelligences (though they kind of drop out of the story after a while) - great space opera. Not quite classic Andre Norton - no (noticeable) psychic powers, nor bonding with an animal - but very nicely done. And designed to be a series - they end up this book with a perfect setup to go exploring on a different world, with a little more information but not much. Next!

Although written in the 1950s, Sargasso of Space did not read like a stereotypical early SciFi. The plot flowed along nicely with the technical aspects only vaguely described, which not only made the book more timely but more believable. I enjoyed reading this, and will look for other books in the Solar Queen series.

Great space opera and did not feel dated to me, despite the fact that it is 65 years old now.

The story is told from the perspective of a new cargo apprentice, traveling on his first Trade ship. I liked Dane and look forward to reading more about him and his shipmates.